The company first established itself in India in 1931 by renting a building to start an experimental shoe production plant in Konnagar, with 75 Czechoslovak experts.

Jan Antonín Baťa then built up an industrial manufacturing city called Batanagar in 1934 as well as other factories in Delhi and Patna and elsewhere in India, employing more than 7,000 people.

The entire district is situated in the Ganges Delta and the subdivision, on the east bank of the Hooghly River, is an alluvial stretch, with industrial development.

Shoe-making is a predominant cottage industry in Batanagar, with houses and families dedicated to manufacturing shoes from leather, PVC, jute, etc.

[citation needed] Techno International Batanagar, established in 2012, offers diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in Engineering and Technology and other allied fields.